Man files wrongful arrest lawsuit against Lee County Sheriff’s Office

A federal lawsuit has been filed against the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and one of its deputies for wrongful arrest.

Jelani Maidwell, who is Black, said the sheriff’s office was looking for a white suspect in a burglary case on Sept. 4, 2017 and they found him instead. The incident happened at Summerlin Road and John Morris Road.

In the arrest report, Deputy Furhan Din wrote Maidwell fit the description of a burglary suspect, a white male with black shorts and black high-top shoes.

But according to the lawsuit, Maidwell’s attorney said that was not the case.

The deputy arrested Maidwell for resisting an officer without violence when he refused to give his name or answer any questions.

FGCU Forensic Studies Professor Dave Thomas, a former police officer, said the stop was based on profiling and the arrest never should have happened.

The foundation for the arrest was bad from the beginning, Thomas said.

“The best way to say this is this was based on profiling,” he said.

“There is nothing about him that fits the description to begin with,” he added.

“Everything that happened from the time that the stop was made would be, in legal vernacular, it would be called fruits of the poisonous tree,” Thomas said. “It’s illegal. This should have never happened under any circumstance.”

Deputies never charged or investigated Maidwell for the burglary in question and the state attorney’s office dropped his case.

“To say that you are stopping him for a burglary, an investigation of a burglary, but yet you didn’t pursue investigating the burglary says tons,” Thomas said.

Maidwell and his lawyer declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said they do not comment on pending litigation.